Content creators targetted in tourism promotion of SVG

Content creators in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) are being encouraged to use social media to highlight the positive aspects of the multi-island state and also promote the tourism products and services.

This has come from Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Carlos James, as he addressed a ceremony to launch a digital tourism competition – Our Islands, Our Vibes, Content Creators’ Competition. The competition was launched on the heels of a week-long Digital Content Creators Workshop which saw participants being trained in vlogging techniques as well as digital and social media marketing.

The seven-month long competition was officially launched on Monday, April 17 at the NIS conference room and Minister James said the hope is that the content coming out of the competition will further develop SVG’s tourism sector.

“It starts with our connection with the outside world, and as I told these stakeholders in the workshop last week, it really starts with you. You are content creators, you are persons who have an interest in the world wide web and the digital transformation in the digital space.

“Very often we use social media platforms for a lot of things which may not necessarily be positive. For instance of driving on a road and dropping in a pothole. You’re going to tweet that, of course, you would want [it] fixed and we acknowledge that; but at the same time we wouldn’t stop, pause look at the scenery in front of us.”

He added that the competition places local content creators at the helm of promoting the destination.

“… What it [competition] essentially does, is creates in the entire country, a cadre of digital storytellers and ambassadors who are going to primarily focus on the promotion of our lovely destinations in its entirety and you can’t want a better investment in our people and our product than having these stories told from the eyes of the very people who are living in St. Vincent,” James noted.

The competition officially starts in May and participants are expected to create a two-minute video each month featuring different aspects of the destination’s tourism services as well as its products.

Chief Executive Officer at Digicel Victor Kovacs, encouraged workshop participants to see themselves as island ambassadors with the ability to attract tourists to the destination with their digital content.

“… What you have is an opportunity not only to drive this economy forward, but to put St Vincent and Grenadines on the map as a great destination for tourism,” he said.

The winner of the competition will receive a weekend for two at the all-inclusive Palm Island Resort along with $500 cash. The person who places second will receive a smart device, and the third placed competitor will get a cash prize of $500.